This Local Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) profile presents a summary of well-developed areas of migration governance in the Municipality of Coto Brus (Costa Rica) as well as areas with potential for further development, as assessed through the MGI. The MGI is a standard set of approximately 80 indicators to assist local governments in assessing their migration policies and advance the conversation on what well-governed migration might look like in practice.

The incorporation of Sustainable Development Goal Target 10.7 into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development created the need to define “planned and well-managed migration policies”. In 2015, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed the Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF). The Framework offers a concise view of an ideal approach that allows a State to determine what it might need to govern migration well and in a way that suits its circumstances. 

In an effort to operationalize the MiGOF, IOM worked with The Economist Impact to develop the (MGI).

The MGI helps governments identify good practices as well as areas with potential for further development and can offer insights into the policy levers that can be used to develop their migration governance structures. The MGI takes stock of migration-related policies in place and operates as a benchmarking framework that offers insights into policy measures that countries might want to consider as they progress towards good migration governance.